In Love With Night
by N.C. Stormeye
Summary: Give me my Romeo and, when he shall die,Take him and cut him out in little stars,And he will make the face of heaven so fineThat all the world will be in love with nightAnd pay no worship to the garish sun. RoyAi


**In Love With Night**

_**An Epic Midnight Summer Romance**_

**By Nicole StormEye**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FullMetal Alchemist or Romeo and Juliet. But the passage I'm about to mention is one of my favourites...

**StormEye's Summary: **The Summer Equinox Festival, complete with fireworks and boating on the lake, is the highlight of the year, even with the East City military. For two such members of the military, the darkness of the Summer Equinox, the shortest night of the year, is the only time they can speak in actions the words they refuse to say aloud. RoyAi. Rated T borderline M.

**Nicki's Notes: **This is my favourite quote from "Romeo and Juliet", due to my sappiness. Let's say that every year there's a performance in light of the most romantic (supposedly) night of the year. I'm taking a lot of liberties with this one, but I LOVE it so much I just have to. Isn't love about taking risks? (Well...romantic love anyway...)

* * *

_"Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,  
Take him and cut him out in little stars,  
And he will make the face of heaven so fine  
That all the world will be in love with night  
And pay no worship to the garish sun."_

The above lines of poetry from Willy Shakespeare are not the author's attempts to make herself seem more sophisticated (she already is) but crucial to the tale of the shortest night of the year that is slowly being woven. Because at this very moment, while the warm breezes blow and boats of lovers, shaded in darkness, float on a man-made lake, these words are being spoken aloud by two people, separate, yet in their hearts, joined.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let me begin at the very beginning, with a sultry late-afternoon early-evening in East City. Silently, in the offices of an imposing military edifice, is the rag-tag crew we so lovingly christen "The Military Dogs". The sounds are the casual sounds here, as always. The click of a safety, the yawn of a bored officer neglecting his work. The sound of a bullet fired...

A BULLET FIRED?

At that moment, a hair's-breath away from Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang's head, a bullet was lodged in the wall. The shooter per se was none other than First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye who appeared obviously annoyed by something...

"No, I am not at liberty to go with you." Riza said coolly before slipping the gun back into one of her many holsters.

"Please Hawkeye. I haven't been able to ask anyone and it would be damaging to my reputation if..."

"You didn't show up with a lady on your arm. Well unfortunately sir, I am not that lady."

"Please Hawkeye." the plea was earnest...ly stupid in Riza's opinion. But the look on her Cos face was plaintive. At that moment, the defenses the blonde lieutenant kept up daily shook...and shattered. Not because Roy was convincing or anything, but because she honestly wanted to go and the free ticket dangled in her face was more than she could take. Even if it came from her notorious ladies man of a commanding officer.

"Alright..." she exhaled grudgingly. Roy stared at her in disbelief then stared malevolently at Havoc.

"Pay up. I told you, there is no one who can resist my..." 'BANG!'

"Get back to work!" Riza said harshly, a tinge of pink on her ears. Silence reigned.

---000---

Riza stood quizzically in front of her closet. In front of her, rows upon rows of uniforms sparsely interrupted with casual clothing glared at her right in the face. Not a single convincingly elegant-casual outfit for the Summer Equinox production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Last year it had been, fittingly, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. To add a touch of class to the lives of East City, the night of the Summer Equinox was always a festival of art, culture, and...

Love. Riza colored slightly at the thought. Now of all nights to be on the Colonel's arm? But then again she had accepted. Was it too late to refuse? No...she wasn't that way. Bet on or no, she would show up as loyal as ever. For the sake of her own pride for once.

Resolutely pulling out a pair of comfortable Oxfords and a light cotton shirt, she debated her options...

---000---

A block or too away, the male version of the anxieties that wracked Riza Hawkeye were tormenting one Roy Mustang. He too was staring at his closet full of indecision. Unlike Riza, he had more casual clothing that uniforms. But like Riza, his thoughts were not on clothing.

"Damn that stupid bet!" Roy cursed as started to pick up a brandy bottle. He reconsidered, placing it back down on the table. God knows when he started drinking, he couldn't really stop. And at a moment like this it was tempting. He was taking his lieutenant out on Summer Equinox night, notoriously known in East City as "The Night of New Love".

Resisting the urge to bang his head into the wall (a pursuit the authoress of this piece of fiction finds marvelously tempting to make him do) he stared blankly at the rows of clothing. Roy sighed audibly then randomly pulled a shirt and pants out. God knows this would be a loooooong night.

---000---

It was exactly seven o clock when Riza met Roy outside the theatre. Couples were filing in one-by—one, cuddling and laughing and cooing to each other. Only they seemed stilted and silent, stiff with the uncofortable feelings of familiarity that wafted between them.

They presented their individual (Thank god Havoc, who had to pay for the whole mess as per the bet, didn't opt to play a joke by buying a couple's ticket.) tickets and walked inside, trying not to look like the mess of couples that had entered before them. To their shock and horror though, when they entered they discovered that only couples made up the audience. Taking a seat in the middle (the place they were least likely to be seen) they fidgeted and watched as the lights dimmed.

Soon the booming voice of the chorus reached them, and the play had begun. Roy found it hard not to lean his hand instinctively on the armrest between him and Riza. Riza found it hard not to color during the romantic balcony scenes for, oh cruel twist of fate, the Juliet was a blonde like her, and the Romeo had hair the color of jet.

The night wore on steadily, the temperature in the gallery rising to an almost inhuman level. Finally, when the play was over, the couples slowly began to depart until...

---000---

It was nearing the end of the shortest night of the year when the sea of couples finally parted enough for Roy and Riza to leave the theatre. The dark was comforting, and a cool breeze was picking up. Lights from lantern-lit boats floated on the man-made lake. Amused, Roy walked over to the railing that divided water from cobblestones.

"Careful not to fall in. You know you're useless when you're wet." Riza commented dryly as she moved to join him.

"I am perfectly capable of swimming, Hawkeye. It's the getting dry that remains a problem."

"Just checking sir. I wouldn't relish the thought of the paperwork I'd have to fill up should the legendary Flame Alchemist drown in the lake because he was distracted by one of the beauties on it."

"And who said the beauty that's distracting me is on the lake?" he said glibly, making Riza blush.

"Sir, you do know that even in casual dress, I'm armed."

Roy sighed, "I'm aware of that Lieutenant."

Riza looked at his gaunt and exhausted features, worn by overwork and late nights filled with signing mountains of paper. In the lights of the floating lanterns on the lake, her CO's face looked ethereal, details chiseled in flesh and stone and memories. Just how many painful nights lay in the slight groves that were barely visible on his face?

"Riza?" the sound of her first name jolted her.

"Yes, _Sir_?" she tried to put him in his place with formalities. He smiled wanly.

"Riza, we're out of the office. You can call me Roy."

"I prefer not to."

Roy looked at her for one long moment then sighed. "You're right Lieutenant. Especially on such an infamous night."

Riza looked at him, studying the melancholy, then turned her head and looked at the sky. Then, as if in a trance, she began to speak.

_"Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,  
Take him and cut him out in little stars,  
And he will make the face of heaven so fine  
That all the world will be in love with night  
And pay no worship to the garish sun." _

"Why the sudden burst of poetry, Lieutenant." Roy asked after Riza had finished. Riza looked at him, quiet, her face emotionless.

"Nothing...it just seemed fitting, what with the stars."

"Why Hawkeye, I never knew you were so sentimental."

"Sir, though I appear to be cold, I can assure you I am as prone as any member of the fair sex to sentimentality, and poetry."

"Duly noted."

Silence reigned for awhile, and the stars twinkled overhead...

---000---

Which leads me to my final act, where i started and where I must end. At the moment, Roy and Riza have gone their separate ways, walking home in the darkness and balmy air. But even as they do, the memories of a night spent under the stars lingers close in their ears. And slowly, in a unison both unintentional and spirit bound, they begin to recite...

"_Give me my..."_

"_Juliet; and when..."_

"_he shall die. Take him and cut him out in little stars..."_

"_And she shall make the face of heaven so fine..."_

"_That all the world may fall in love with night..."_

"_And pay no worship to the garish sun..."_

And in the balmy night of the Summer Equinox, as two so bound by pact and promise walk home, two hearts recite a plaintive plea to each others souls...unbeknownst to them.

But fate's plan's are beauty, and so they meet on their way home, with unexpected promise. No words are exchanged, only looks. But the messages spoken mean more than prose or poetry. And in the balmly night the footsteps tread in unison...to walk across the cobblestones, fingers intertwined.

* * *

**Nicki's Notes: **I know, it sucks. It's another of my "Ghost of a Premature Baby" -type muses. Aww jeez. 


End file.
